


Scapegoat

by VainVariety



Category: Helltaker (Video Game)
Genre: Abandonment, Biblical Lore, Intimidation, babe wake up new bible lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:13:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28554426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VainVariety/pseuds/VainVariety
Summary: “Thank you for calling Hell’s Customer Service, how may we help you?”“Ah yes, I was wondering what the process would be to let a...”  There was a pause on the other end, Pandemonica swore the speaker sounded familiar.  “An angel into hell?”
Relationships: Lucifer (Helltaker) & Azazel (Helltaker)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 37





	Scapegoat

“Thank you for calling Hell’s Customer Service, how may we help you?”

“Ah yes, I was wondering what the process would be to let a...” There was a pause on the other end, Pandemonica swore the speaker sounded familiar. “An angel into hell?” She gawked at the wall ahead of her.

“An angel.” The representative repeated, “What for?”

“Well you see--” A grunt and rustle on the other end, “One of our own wants to do her thesis on Demonology. She’s a bit of an odd one, normally we wouldn’t let any of our Angels  _ down there _ , but after plenty of encouragement, we told her we would look into it. She wrote such a long essay persuading us to go down! Seventy-two pages if I’m correct, we would love for you to look it over and tell us your thoughts.”

Something about it did not sit right with Pandemonica, but with a sigh she pulled out a pad of sticky notes and pen as the other went on, scribbling something among the lines of ‘long ass essay’ and ‘odd one?’

She paused, stared at her notes, and underlined the latter phrase.

“May I ask who’s calling?” She nestled the phone between her ear and shoulder, prodding her cheek with her tongue as the caller replied, “Archangel Gabriel”. With an eye roll, she wrote ‘the messenger’.

Pandemonica followed up with, “I’ll have to talk to my supervisor about this to give you an answer, should I call you back at this number?”

The contact information was exchanged and with a ‘thank you very much’, the Archangel rated Pandemonica a six out of ten.

* * *

Lucifer glanced down at the representative before her desk, focusing on how Pandemonica’s tail swayed from side to side --  uncharacteristic of her. 

“You’re not going to believe this, My Queen.” She glanced down at a sticky note pasted on her finger. Lucifer leant back in her seat.

“Out with it.”  
“An Angel wants to come to hell.”

Silence. Not a single creature or soul in hell dared to stir, baited by how the Queen’s eyebrows quirked with a sickening delight.

“An Angel…” She was tasting those words, trying to recall some sort of sweetness in them. All sympathy Lucifer once held for Heaven had faded, but this was too delicious to pass up. “Go on.”

“From what I’m gathering, she wants to study Demons for an assignment.”

“Who is this?”

“I didn’t ask.”

Lucifer tsk’d, rising from her chair and rounding her desk to join Pandemonica’s side. Her hand tilted the sticky note to allow easier viewing, all the more deafening. 

“What kind of essay are we talking about?” She piped up, taking in the look of disgust that passed behind her employee’s glasses.

“Seventy-two pages on why she should be allowed to go to Hell.”

“Tell Gabe to forward me the essay, if I’m not satisfied with this little twit’s work then she will not be allowed in.” With a bow of her head, Pandemonica was off to make the call. The essay arrived on Lucifer’s desk with record speed. The Queen called Pandemonica in to help her weed through this mess, highlighting and making notes in margins of the Angel’s work.

The essay was very straight forward: asking for a free pass into Hell to conduct research on Demonology. There were at least a dozen pages of how prepared this little angel was, a few anecdotes of holding her own against other angels. Lucifer highlighted these instances. Something about it didn’t sit right with her. 

It was littered with Bible verses, some in Hebrew and others of translations in various languages. It was something Lucifer brought up to Pandemonica, who also thought it was strange to take interpretations straight from human translation instead of the word of God Himself. It’s not like they didn’t have access to it, but this was noted and they moved on.

The writer’s style was very direct, almost emotionless. It held more fact than interpretation along with an extensive bibliography that Lucifer tasked Pandemonica to shift through. Curiosity got the better of the Queen; she took half to read over herself, much to her employee’s delight.

Neither of them were explicitly satisfied, but Lucifer granted the right for the Angel to come down to Hell for her research. She arrived at the gate days later.

* * *

Judgement, the High Prosecutor, and Pandemonica were the first ones to greet their guest, the gate still securely shut. Lucifer had shown up moments later to find them all with furrowed eyebrows and hushed voices. The Queen huffed, clasping two gloved hands together.

“My my, I didn’t know we would welcome our guest with such quiet voices! Speak up, the lot of you.” Lucifer chimed, tail flicking pleasantly. Pandemonica was the first to step aside, Judgement lingered, scratching the back of her neck with a pointed claw. The three of them were quite a stunning welcome party. One was barely clothed, decorated with sharp armor and a fearsome scowl, then the other-- quieter and passive-- who repeated the same scripted greetings. Neither of them looked as though they wanted to speak.

The little Angel stood up against Hell’s Gate, hands clenching the bars as she peered down at the Queen, a small bag behind her and an envelope tucked between her knees.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” The Angel insisted. “I was  _ tasked _ to come down here, I-I swear I didn’t write any welcome essay, your Majesty.” Lucifer’s face now bore the same expression as the other three, a strained silence falling among all of them.

“What is your name, little Angel?” Lucifer inquired.

“Mirielle, your Majesty.”

“What’s that letter between your legs?” She looked down, almost as though she forgot it was there, and poked it through the bars.

“I was told not to open it, just to let you read it.” Lucifer took the letter and slit it open with the tip of her tail, ignoring the wax seal of a cross on its front. Inside was a note, upon unfolding it, she read the contents to herself. With a heavy sigh, the Queen tucked the letter back inside its envelope and pocketed it inside her blazer.

“Open the gates. Little billy, do step back.” Once the Angel heeded her warning, the gates parted with a groan. The Angel picked up her bag and held it under her arm, Lucifer motioning for the Angel to follow as she walked deeper into Hell. Pandemonica caught up to her supervisor’s side, mouthing a request for an explanation. None was given.

Lucifer snapped her fingers and suddenly her and Mirielle were in a dining room with marble walls, shiny enough to reflect anything in front of it. The first thing the Queen expected her guest to notice was the decor. Everything was a fiery red, a stark different from that of the bleak decor of Heaven. In the middle laid a dining table laid Lucifer’s favorite candelabra, the kind who lit itself upon noticing her presence and swayed to her liking. Two places were set with black plates, napkins, and silverware alongside empty wine glasses.

“Take a seat, my little billy.” Lucifer instructed, taking her own seat in a velvet lined chair, duplicate of the one across from her. The Angel, who seemed off put by her words, slowly eased herself into the chair across from her.

“You must forgive the others, they’re not well versed in conversation. However, I would like to personally introduce myself. I am Lucifer, the Queen and CEO of Hell. I would like to take this opportunity to get to know each other, hm?”

The Angel was squinting and at the decor and the plating, twisting in her seat to try to get a semblance of where she was.

“Yes, it is a little dark,” Lucifer chortled, “but your eyes will adjust. Come, tell me about yourself. It’s not every day we are blessed with Heaven’s presence.” Her elbows propped themselves on the edge of the table. Though there was no food set out for them, there was a bit of a bite to her words. It must’ve struck the Angel like a slap-- she looked hurt by it.

The Angel was awkward with her words, fidgeting in her seat and smoothing her hands over her thighs. Lucifer took careful notice of how she chewed her lip when she was addressed. Nervous, anxious, and unsure of herself. Introductions and casualties bored her, so in the middle of the Angel’s backstory, she whipped out the letter.

“I highly doubt you were supposed to read this, my little billy, but I think you should.” It was slid across the table by magic, and slowly the guest took the envelope with an unease. Her fingers tipped open the envelope, slowly pulling out the letter, and unfolding its contents.

Lucifer’s tail flicked in delight watching how the Angel’s eyebrows furrowed and eyes widened at its words. Her lips twitched around an explanation, though she was silent. The flames laughed at her, dancing a sadistic tango on the walls around them. This was the Queen’s cue to rise from her seat and join them in their pleasure, now stationed behind her dear guest with hands gripping either side of her chair.

She leaned down to her guest’s ear and cooed, “You are no longer Mirielle. I could smell the sin on you the moment you came down here. You shall be referred to as Azazel. My little scapegoat, do make yourself at home.” And with a delicate kiss to Azazel’s now wet cheek, her heels slowly clicked out of the room, setting a rhythm for the fire to waltz to.

All that could be heard were the fallen Angel’s cries.

  
  


_ Lucifer. _ _  
  
_

_ This Angel is to never return to Heaven. Do take good care of her. _ _  
_ _  
  
_

Beneath was an image of a goat overlooking a cliff.

* * *

And make herself at home she did. Azazel spent the longest time in the dining room, trying to reconcile with herself what had happened. After several cries, she trudged out of the dining hall. The candle extinguished itself.

According to rumors, the former High Prosecutor was the first one to greet her-- a secure grip around her arm and a charming smile help put her nerves at ease. She took the effort to introduce her to a few other Demons, Pandemonica caught up with the two of them and offered to give up her break to take Azazel on a tour. How sweet.

Rumor also had it that this little goat was convinced she would make it back up to Heaven. The note itself sure seemed odd. Though the message was clear, the phone call Hell received prior to the Angel’s visit was misleading. Perhaps to put the Queen at ease and allow Heaven to kick another one of its own from its ranks.

Lucifer downed a bottle to that idea, praying for a migraine to help her forget.

The culprit of said rumor waltzed their way into Lucifer’s office one day. Busy with paperwork, she heard out their request as she scanned and signed away at damnation reports.

“She’s kind of a nut-case.” Justice sighed, curling around Lucifer’s desk and pulling themself up onto the table beside her work.

“How so?” The Queen was only giving her visitor half attention, the other half divided between a drink and chipping away at the stack before her.

“She asks a lot of questions, very specific stuff. Stuff like, uh, ‘how do Demons shower’ and ‘how do Demonic genetics work’. Just honestly really random stuff.” The hands of the former High Prosecutor cracked their knuckles. A few of Lucifer’s guards turned their heads to look, snapping back to attention before their commander noticed.

“Is that so?”

“So I told her if she keeps doing a good job, maybe Heaven’ll let her back in.”

Lucifer stopped writing.

She looked back up to her dear friend with a scowl, rapidly jiggling her pen around between two fingers.

“You know that she isn’t going to shut her yap about going back there, right?” The Queen hissed. Any normal demon would’ve had their tail between their legs, but Justice’s tail snatched the pen from her fingers and flung it somewhere else.

“I mean, hey, it’s not impossible. I know you can work something out if she gets too in your hair.”

“Yes, because they totally want their sacrifice back after studying all about what they view as scoundrel. Fucking hypocrites, the lot of them-- They’d detest her even more.”

Justice’s pinky picked at some earwax, shrugging and flicking it aside.

“You don’t know that.”

“Get out.” Lucifer spat, snapping and instantly she was gone. To where she went, the Queen had no idea, nor did she care. She downed the rest of her drink in one gulp and nearly knocked her chair over as she stomped off to refill it.

* * *

Word was going around about this goat's interference. Zdrada had barged in to loudly demand an explanation for this ‘twat’. When one couldn’t be given, the Queen received a faceful of smoke and a bold ‘FUCK YOU’ before she was ‘escorted’ out. Even Modeus had paid the Queen a visit, meekly asking why there was a newcomer. Lucifer dodged the question with a smile, the two of them shared a drink, then the other forgot about it and left.

Clearly, her billy was making herself  _ too _ at home.

So once all of her work for the moment was squared away, Lucifer prepared the dining hall for their second meeting, taking her seat on one side of the table and watching the flames from her candelabra come alive with curiosity. One snap and Azazel sat across from her, taking a moment to register new surroundings.

“My dearest Azazel,” Lucifer grinned, a floating bottle of wine pouring the both of them a glass. “So sorry to call you here on such short notice, I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to hear about how you were adjusting.” The Queen took note of a pen and notepad in the goat’s hands, carefully set to the side as she returned the smile. It was a relief to know that this meeting wouldn’t drag on as much as it did the last one.

“Just fine, your highness. I’m learning so much, oh truly, I really am! I had no idea about how the color of Demons’ horns changed based on age, Miss Malina said something along those lines, I believe. Oh yes, and uhm, let’s see… And I learned how work gets done in Hell! Yes yes, Pandemonica let me watch her during a day at work and, my goodness, it was so fascinating!”

Lucifer knew full well that Pandemonica’s work was not interesting in the slightest, and bet on that same thought that her receptionist let her watch out of pity. But she nodded along with what the other is saying and reaffirmed her findings with a “that’s wonderful”.

“I actually wanted to quiz you on something, nothing about what you have learned in Hell, don’t worry. It takes a while to know this place inside out, but yes. Are you up to it? You strike me as quite a smart girl.”

The light from the candles showed a glimmer in the goat’s eye and she nodded with appropriate vigor. The Queen clasped her hands together and got started.

“Just a few basic questions to get your mind jogging, yes? What is the name of God’s son?”

Her mouth opened, then quickly shut. It took her a moment to respond, but her answer was thus: “Jesus, your majesty?” Lucifer giggled at her uncertainty.

“No need to worry, I am not here to give you trick questions. Good job, I wanted to make sure you still remembered.”

After the goat sighed, the questions continued.

“Who was the first man God created?”

“Adam, your majesty.”

“Where did Adam live?”

“The Garden of Eden, your majesty.”

“Who revealed the apple to Adam’s wife?”

“A serpent, your majesty.”

“Why was it an apple?”

Azazel was about to answer, but she stopped. Someone clearly was not paying attention in their studies. Lucifer waited for an answer, but as eyes flickered around the room looking for one, she assumed it to be lost.

Her hands settled upon her napkin, carefully unfolding it and tying the cloth around her neck.

“Now  _ that _ was a trick question. There was no apple in the Bible; it is a pun in translation. I’m sure as you already know, the word  _ peri _ was used in the Bible to describe what hung from the tree. But  _ peri _ could mean any fruit, so a human took it upon themselves to choose the word  _ malus _ .”

Azazel’s hands found their way to the notepad beside her, keeping eye contact as she scribbled down her answer. Lucifer continued, readjusting her knife and spoon.

“ _ Malus _ , as I’m sure you know, has two meanings. One meaning ‘evil’ and the other meaning ‘apple’. It was a sly little joke that the translator wanted to put into the Bible, and thus was born the infamous apple.

“But isn’t it strange that it was an apple? If translated by anyone else, surely they may have inserted a different word. The tree could have bore anything, for it was God’s creation. It could have been a fig, a pear, a peach, any fleshed fruit. Some have even described it as wheat, and even further, as wine, because wine is too sweet to resist.

“Do you understand where I’m going with this?” Lucifer paused yet again, her tail snaking around her wine glass to take a sip-- enough to whet her palate. Azazel stopped writing. She stared at her notepad for several moments, before offering an apologetic smile.

“No, your majesty. I’m afraid not.”

Lucifer smirked, and soon the candles flickered in excitement. The room grew brighter, shadows cast longer, yet the goat took no notice.

“Temptation has been the downfall of men for eternity, and it seems your temptation for knowledge is growing stronger by the second. What should we call it… Greed for knowledge? A lust to know more? I think it is safe to say your journey has gone beyond that of a school project.

“We have something in common, Azazel. We have both been thrown away by Him, and we are forced to make do with our own resources. It’s too late for us now, remember well that there’s no going back. Do you plan to survive on your own or piggyback off of others?”

The flames cackled, crackling with laughter as they waited on an answer from the little goat. Oh Azazel, the sacrificial lamb, projected with sin and sent off to Hell. Lucifer could call her a damsel in distress, but this predator wanted to play with her prey before making the kill.

Her words went to heart. Azazel’s hands were frozen in place, baby blues glued to the Queen and oh, how her face contorted with delight at the fallen Angel’s reactions! She swore her little goat was trembling, or perhaps it was how the fire danced across her face. Their space was silent, safe for thought, and Lucifer could only imagine all the ideas swimming around in that little brain of hers. How they must’ve gasped for reason like air, the waters of reality consuming them until they could no longer swim.

“I can go back to Heaven.” She finally whimpered, refusing to look her superior in the eye. “I know I can… I have to keep working.”

So she chose to cling onto a desperate wish-- sobeit. It wasn’t the answer that the Queen wanted, but it was an answer nonetheless. They both knew this conversation would not be forgotten.

“Then let’s dig in.” The Queen of Hell cheered. A snap of her fingers and nestled on their plates was an apple, red and shiny enough to reflect the surface before them. Lucifer admired herself, wondering what her little goat would see in her own reflection. Would it be defeat, or hope?

Hope never lasted long in Hell.

Azazel gawked back up at Lucifer for mercy, poised to beg for some other way out of her situation, but no words escaped. The Queen held her ground, and gestured towards the fruit and wine before her. The goat sniffled, and soon her eyes grew wet. The flames between them took no mercy, joyously dancing across the walls and putting her misery on full display.

The angel shakily took a bite from her apple and washed it down with wine.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I apologize if my Bible Lore isn't 100% accurate, I had to go off that and the game's canon so some things are a little skewed. Lucifer only calls Azazel a goat as a pet name (quite literally), Azazel still looks like an angel.
> 
> I hope you all like my work! I'm so proud of this little story haha :-)


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